Ship Rudder

Kaitlin Caoili

P.6- Ms. Popa

1.19.11

Kaitlin Caoili P.6- Mrs. Popa 1/19/11- Due Chinese Inventions The Chinese invention that I got from the raffle was a ship rudder. A ship rudder is a device placed on a boat or ship which helps turn a boat towards any desired direction. Before ship rudders were made, people would have to use oars to steer a boat. Oars were very time consuming and tiring therefore, the birth of the ship rudder. The ship rudder was made during the Han Dynasty in China (202 B.C.- 220 A.D.). The first model of a sip rudder was found in the Guangzhou district of China. The model was made of pottery. Other depictions of ship rudders are doing in Church carvings (these models are found in Europe) and date back to around 1180 A.D. How was the ship rudder invented? By accident? Intentionally? Because I couldnt find any information on this topic, I made my own hypothesis. Since the rudder was so complex, and had great use, I think that its very unlikely that it could be made by accident. And considering the fact that they were so large, you cant accidentally make them. Unlike firecrackers, ship rudders arent made by the combination of a few elements. But this invention had to be thought out and planned. The maker had a purpose for making ship rudders. His/ her purpose was to make boat traveling faster and easier. They made something that would be connected to the helm (the steering wheel) that would cause the ship to move in any direction you move the helm. The ship rudder was slowly modified over time as people started to adopt this traveling method. As the time passed gradually, people began to make changes to improve it and the ship. After the Chinese created the ship rudder, Europeans adopted this method and wen on many

expeditions using it. It is still used today but is now accompanied by propellers! Today, it is unknown who specifically created this invention but many thanks go out to whoever did! The sup rudder brought much use to medieval China. The ship rudder was actually a revolution for China. Before the invention of ship rudders, people would have to use oars to keep the ship moving and staying on track going into the direction of their desired location. Like I said, oars were very time consuming and tiring to use. These ship rudders helped the Chinese people to travel to trade to places that would have otherwise been very hard to travel to because of the distance. The Chinese would travel to the Philippines, Indonesia, and even Africa. Ship rudders made it a lot easier to travel such a great distance. Evidence that trade had taken place between Africa and China are the broken pieces of porcelain that were found in Africa. The ship rudder was very useful back then for those reasons and they still are today! The ship rudder is historically significant for many reasons. One reason is that without it, people that travel by ship would be very tiring. Considering the people I know, most of them are lazy. Since theyre lazy, all the more they wouldnt bother to lift a finger let alone paddle all thousands of miles. Even though youre probably thinking So what? Why do we need ships? We have cars already! But, what if the ship rudder was never invented? America wouldnt have been discovered possibly till 2012! One great idea leads to another! The ship rudder is still used today in China for transportation of people and other animals and/or other objects. The ship rudder is still used to help move the ship in certain directions, but today, it is accompanied with the propeller to make things a lot easier. The propeller makes increases the speed of the boat a lot faster while the ship rudder directs the ship. Not only is the ship rudder found in Chinese ships but ships all over the world as well!

This particular object influences us today by its individual complexity. This influences us because someone from that time was able to create a device so simple but very useful. With our technology today, just imagine the possibilities for new inventions! Is the ship rudder still used in other parts of the world? Yes, it is still used in parts of the world. Although the Chinese invented the ship rudder, the Europeans adopted this method soon after they learned about it. Even the Americans and Egyptians adapted this method! And today, the ship rudder is still used in a lot of the world, including America. Ship rudders have come a long way since the Han Dynasty (about 2,200 years ago). I assume that in 150 years, people will still use the ship rudder. Perhaps even more than we do today! If it has come through 2,200 years, 150 more years wouldnt hurt it. It will probably be the same only with more technology surrounding it! No one can tell but time, so lets wait 150 years and find out the answer!